Yes, it is true! In the April, 2012 issue of the Train Collectors Quarterly I have an article, titled “Stand-Ins: Scale-Craft 00 Models in the 1938 Lionel Catalog.” My copies came yesterday. I have not had a new article in a print journal for a few years and I must admit it was exciting to see. While I see a few mostly minor typos, overall I am extremely pleased with how it looks.

Regular readers of American OO Today will see that the article is probably 75% drawn on materials posted in this website. I had wanted to submit an article to the TCA for some time but felt I needed a strong topic and did not have one for a long time. Then, working on the 1938 series last year, I realized that it had never been noted (and I had never before noticed) that the freight cars in the 1938 Lionel catalog are all modified Scale-Craft cars. Not only is it a great story to tell but also it gave me a great opening to present accurately the bigger picture of the launch of the Lionel OO line and early Nason and Scale-Craft products.

I will be very curious to see what response this generates as, in relation especially to the TCA, there are undoubtedly a lot of collectors who have OO packed away in boxes not too sure what it is. Hopefully, this article will peak their interest a bit in getting those boxes out again either to work with them or put them out for sale. If you are one of those readers just discovering American OO, welcome to our world! This is the most comprehensive source ever assembled on the topic and I hope to keep making it better.

I welcome reader thoughts as well as to directions for a follow up article. And, as I have mentioned elsewhere, it would be nice is some maker noticed the high prices that Lionel OO track can command in usable condition and start making some OO. It is a niche market but still I am inclined to think money could be made.

To close, what is interesting to me is that I would perhaps not even have noticed the underlying use of S-C cars in the 1938 Lionel catalog except for working on my ongoing series of articles on OO history by the year, which has taken things to a new level for me. As soon as I have a chunk of time I will finish up the 1940 series and start reading and reviewing my notes on 1941. And again, a note of thanks to regular readers of American OO Today, I appreciate your support.